Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will reply to the letter of 18 May from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, on behalf of constituent Mike Josypenko regarding planned changes to UK trade and investment support for exporters.

Ian Pearson: I regret the delay, which was due to an administration error, but a fully reply has now been sent.

Plumbers

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many registered plumbers there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Alun Michael: holding answer 23 November 2005
	There is no official register of plumbers in the UK as there is no "licence to operate" requirement and I cannot be sure that the following information covers all areas of plumbing. Individual plumbers are employed by firms operating in both the domestic and commercial markets. Depending on the nature of their work and skills level, some would be more appropriately referred to as heating engineers. Especially in the domestic market, many plumbers are self-employed and may operate at a very local, or neighbourhood level.
	I understand that the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers has 12,200 active members, covering all categories and including trainees.
	There are two main trade associations, The Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (England and Wales) has 1,100 registered companies. The Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation has 6,500 active plumbers registered with them. The split is roughly NI 2,000; Scotland 4,500.

World Trade

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the Doha round of world trade talks.

Ian Pearson: The World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Hong Kong, in less than two weeks time, is vital to successfully concluding the current trade round. Many countries are arguing that too little progress has been made and ambitions for the ministerial should be lowered. But the Doha round is an opportunity to tackle some of the most fundamental injustices at the heart of world trade. We must not lower our ambitions.

Uganda

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to President Museveni of Uganda following the arrest of the opposition leader Dr. Besigye; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn met President Museveni on 23 November to press for a transparent and fair civilian trial for Dr. Besigye. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also expressed his concerns directly to President Museveni at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent discussions between his Department and Turkish Cypriot leaders Mr. Talat and Mr. Soyer.

Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister met Mr. Soyer when he visited Cyprus in October and I met Mr. Soyer this month in London. Officials also maintain an open dialogue with representatives of the Turkish Cypriots. UK policy remains to help facilitate a just, viable and lasting settlement for the benefit of all Cypriots. We believe that only by engaging with both communities in Cyprus can we help make progress towards this objective.
	The Government maintains its long-standing position of non-recognition of the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus".

Correspondence

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Coventry, South on the Draper Study on overhead power lines.

Jim Knight: holding answer 28 November 2005
	There is no record of this letter in the Department. If the hon. Member would like to resubmit this letter I will expedite a prompt reply

Hunting

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the use of scents for (a) drag and (b) trail hunting on Forestry Commission land; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Forestry Commission has entered a Drag Hunting Agreement for one season with the Master of Foxhounds Association (MFHA). This sets out the terms on which their member hunts can apply to the Forestry Commission for a specific licence to drag hunt. The terms are identical to those agreed with the Master of Bloodhounds and Draghounds Association (MBDA) who have operated on the public forest estate for a number of years. The MBDA code of conduct on scents is included in the MFHA Agreement as follows:
	"The scent used must be artificial and may be chemical or animal based. The scent used should not be easily confused by the hounds with a wild mammal. Under no circumstances should a carcass or part of one, the hunting of which is illegal, be used as the scent."

Pesticides

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 September 2005, Official Report, columns 2313–14W, on pesticides, if she will express the quantities used in each year in terms of volume.

Elliot Morley: Details of the volume of pesticide applied are only kept for those products which have a liquid formulation. Details of the volumes of such products applied since 1990, when our records began, are as follows:
	
		
			   million 
			  Litres 
			  Volume of active substance Volume of product 
		
		
			 1990 24.5 40.4 
			 1991 24.8 40.8 
			 1992 28.6 46.3 
			 1993 30.7 50.0 
			 1994 32.5 51.2 
			 1995 33.9 52.4 
			 1996 35.7 55.4 
			 1997 35.6 56.0 
			 1998 35.5 57.3 
			 1999 35.2 57.3 
			 2000 32.9 54.8 
			 2001 32.8 54.7 
			 2002 30.9 51.8 
			 2003 30.6 51.5 
			 2004 31.1 54.0 
		
	
	Pesticides which are not formulated as liquid formulations such as powders or granules are not recorded in these figures.

Public Service Agreement

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the data required to measure the sharing of risk management with industry for the purposes of measuring performance against 2004 public service agreement target 1 are available to her.

Jim Knight: Progress towards achieving the public service agreement target 1 is evaluated annually using the set of 68 UK sustainable development strategy indicators. Specific indicators relating to the impacts of industry are:
	Carbon dioxide emissions by end user (including industry)
	Manufacturing sector carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxides and particulates
	Water abstractions in total
	Waste arisings from industry and commerce
	Resource use as measured by domestic material consumption.
	The indicators were published in June 2005 in "Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2005", copies of which were sent to all Members of Parliament. Copies were also placed in the Library of the House. The indicators are also available via the UK Government's sustainable development website:
	www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

Red Squirrels

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the red squirrel population is estimated to be in Northamptonshire.

Jim Knight: There are no red squirrel populations in Northamptonshire. This native species is in serious decline as a result of habitat fragmentation and the spread of the grey squirrel. Conservation effort is focused on protecting large areas of coniferous woodland (mainly in northern England) that have no grey squirrels and can be defended against their incursion.

Red Squirrels

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the red squirrel population in Staffordshire.

Jim Knight: Red squirrels are known to have survived in some parts of Staffordshire until the 1980s and the last population recorded was in the Forestry Commission's Cannock Forest. The last red squirrel sighting in Staffordshire was a road casualty in Cannock Forest in 1990. A study in the early 1990s, which concluded in 1996, failed to record any red squirrels.

Single Farm Payment

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the target date is for the commencement of the single farm payment; and if she will consider paying interest on late payments where the delay is caused by her Department.

Jim Knight: holding answer 22 November 2005
	The Rural Payments Agency is still working towards a target date of starting payments in February. The regulatory payment deadline is 30 June and consideration would not be given to paying interest before that time.

Wildlife and Countryside Act

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have taken place under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: There are no specific data available for prosecutions brought for offences under Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The only figures available relate to the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts for offences under the categories of Cruelty to Animals and Wild Bird Protection Acts, which may include offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. These data can be found through the following link;
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/commandpubs1.html

Speeding (Carbon Emissions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much extra carbon dioxide in tonnes per annum he estimates arose from the driving of road vehicles in excess of 70 mph in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: If no vehicles exceeded the speed limits on motorways and dual carriageways we have estimated that savings in the region of 0.5 million tonnes of carbon per annum could theoretically occur. In practice, however, it would be virtually impossible to enforce blanket compliance with the 70 mph speed limit, and the Government have no intention of introducing such a policy.

Train Operating Companies

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total amount of penalties awarded against each train operating company for poor performances by the (a) Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and (b) Strategic Rail Authority was in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The franchising authority pays performance bonuses to train operators for exceeding performance targets. If performance is poor, operators pay a performance penalty. Payments of both types are made at four weekly intervals and, in the course of a year, a particular operator may both pay performance penalties and receive performance bonuses. The following table lists cases where payments by an operator during the financial year concerned exceeded the payments it received from the franchising authority. All operators have similar agreements except those indicated in the table as not having one.
	
		
			 £000 
			 Operator 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Anglia (7)— (7)— (7)— 221 329 3,160 (8)— (8)— 
			 Cardif Railways (7)— 1,423 59 73 (7)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 
			 Central Trains (7)— 1,651 384 8,804 9,633 10,910 6,838 11,348 
			 Chiltern 117 276 115 467 484 846 397 189 
			 South Central (7)— (7)— 1,020 9,248 5,978 6,342 12,828 12,118 
			 South Eastern 974 1,629 2,040 11,229 5,746 6,897 2,895 (8)— 
			 SET (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 2,998 2,501 
			 Cross Country (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— 2 (9)— 
			 Gatwick Exp (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— 
			 Great Eastern 122 (7)— (7)— 7,744 5,579 1,525 (8)— (8)— 
			 GNER (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— (9)— 2,902 2,447 
			 Great Western (9)— 2,452 2,175 1,978 5,408 2,610 2,020 1,058 
			 Island Line 24 14 20 41 9 12 17 25 
			 LTS/c2c (7)— (7)— (7)— 477 2,540 430 (7)— (7)— 
			 Merseyrail (7)— 114 346 796 641 (7)— (8)— (8)— 
			 MML (9)— (9)— 18 15 (7)— (9)— (9)— (9)— 
			 North Western (7)— (7)— (7)— 2,256 3,455 2,536 1,448 540 
			 Northern Spirit (7)— (7)— (7)— 8,337 7,611 3,729 1,111 741 
			 Northern (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (9)— 
			 Scotrail (7)— (7)— (7)— 5,284 9,999 8,654 2,820 2,268 
			 First Scotrail (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 178 
			 Silverlink (7)— 199 254 2,879 2,854 447 90 (7)— 
			 SWT 1,281 3,933 3,657 10,648 12,776 11,471 10,186 (7)— 
			 Thames/FGWL 572 2,224 2,046 4,291 4,069 4,173 3,990 4,700 
			 Thameslink 49 270 668 4,337 3,325 2,904 2,844 6,473 
			 Trans Pennine (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 50 2,817 
			 Wales and West (7)— 378 (7)— 4,497 1,577 (8)— (8)— (8)— 
			 WAGN 346 452 849 8,833 8,359 6,380 2,782 1,767 
			 West Coast (9)— (9)— 67 15 12 88 476 80 
			 W&B/ATW (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 1,329 2,425 (7)— (7)— 
			 Wessex (8)— (8)— (8)— (8)— 1,115 3,354 2,094 1,398 
		
	
	(7) Indicates that the operator received a net performance bonus.
	(8) Indicates that the franchise did not exist in the year concerned.
	(9) Indicates operators who were not subject during the year in question to a performance penalty regime
	Note:
	All figures are in £000 and are total net payments for poor performance.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the performance data for 2004 public service agreement no. 2 will be published after the Strategic Rail Authority is wound up.

Derek Twigg: From April 2005, the Office of Rail Regulation took over the publication of "National Rail Trends". This document contains the data used to measure the achievement of public service agreement target no. 2.

Bank Notes

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Scottish Executive on issuing of bank notes in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend has regular discussions on a range of issues with both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Scottish Executive. During the Treasury's consultation on their document "Banknote issue arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland" the Scotland Office facilitated a forum between Treasury officials, the Bank of England, Scottish issuing banks and representative organisations. The consultation period has now concluded and it is for the Treasury to consider the responses.

Breast Cancer

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many women (a) were diagnosed with and (b) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Lynne Featherstone, dated 29 November 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many women (a) were diagnosed with and (b) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years. (31380)
	The latest available figures for the incidence of breast cancer are for the year 2003. The numbers of newly diagnosed cases for the years 1999 to 2003. and the numbers of deaths occurring in these years, are given in the attached table.
	
		Number of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, breast cancer(10) in females in England, 1999–2003(11)
		
			 Year of diagnosis/death Number of cases Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1999 34,176 10,856 
			 2000 33,829 10,609 
			 2001(12) 34,347 10,846 
			 2002(12) 34,319 10,789 
			 2003(12) 36,509 10,489 
		
	
	(10) Breast cancer is defined as code 174 in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) and as code C50 in the International Classification of Diseases. Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Newly diagnosed cases were defined using ICD-10; deaths were defined using ICD9 from 1999 to 2000, and ICD-10 from 2001 onwards.
	(11) Figures for the number of deaths are based on deaths occurring in each calendar year.
	(12) The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that data for breast cancer are not completely comparable with data for years before this date. The data should therefore be interpreted with caution. The effect of the change in classification in 2001 on deaths from cancer by site is described in an article published in August 2004.*
	* Brock A, Griffiths C, Rooney C (2004) 'The effect of the introduction of ICD-10 on cancer mortality trends in England and Wales'. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 23, 7–17.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics.

Consultants

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to ensure that consultancies do not claim excessive expenses while working for the Department and its agencies;
	(2)  what mechanisms are in place to assess the effectiveness of consultant-led projects in his Department; what sanctions are available to penalise consultants who ran unsuccessful projects; how many projects conducted by consultants were assessed as unsuccessful in each year since 2000; and what sanctions were imposed in each case.

John Healey: The Treasury assesses the effectiveness of high and medium risk projects via Gateway reviews, managed by the OGC. Low risk projects are assessed via a project appraisal completed by the relevant business manager.
	The Treasury ensures there are strongly worded clauses in all consultancy contracts and assignment orders, which are agreed and signed by the supplier before undertaking the engagement. This enables the Department to take action against any defaults in performance, quality issues or other failures of the supplier to perform the agreed service in a timely and appropriate manner.
	The remedies can cover anything from re-execution of the services at the expense of the supplier, reduction in the payment in respect of any service that the supplier has failed to provide or has provided inadequately, up to and including termination of the contract. The Treasury also ensures that there is a clause referring to an Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure as recommended by the Centre for Dispute Resolution.
	Since 2000 no consultant-led project has been deemed unsuccessful.
	All contracts let for consultancy support by the Treasury clearly specify to the supplier that any travel expenses to and from the assignment location will be met from the day rate. Expenses may be payable where travel to other sites is required as part of the assignment, but only with prior approval and within the current maximum limits agreed for civil servants. Any other expenses are only payable solely at the discretion, and with the prior approval, of the relevant Treasury project manager.

Manual Payments

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many manual payments were issued in each month since April 2003; and what their value was in each month.

Dawn Primarolo: For the estimated number of manual payments between April 2004 and February 2005, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 22 March 2005, Official Report, column 711W. The estimated number of manual payments in each month from April 2003 to March 2004, and for March 2005 to October 2005, and the estimated value of manual payments between April 2003 and October 2005 are:
	
		
			   £000 
			   Number of payments Estimated value of manual payments made 
		
		
			 2003   
			 April Less than 5 1,200 
			 May 135 111,400 
			 June 130 83,900 
			 July 10 6,400 
			 August 25 15,300 
			 September 15 10,000 
			 October 10 6,500 
			 November 10 7,000 
			 December 20 10,600 
			
			 2004   
			 January 25 13,100 
			 February 30 18,100 
			 March 20 12,000 
		
	
	
		
			  £000 
			  Estimated value of manual payments made 
		
		
			 2004  
			 April 18,100 
			 May 11,200 
			 June 8,900 
			 July 11,200 
			 August 10,100 
			 September 19,600 
			 October 16,400 
			 November 13,900 
			 December 14,600 
			   
			 2005  
			 January 16,000 
			 February 17,700 
		
	
	
		
			   £000 
			   Number of payments Estimated value of manual payments made 
		
		
			 2005   
			 March 40 20,000 
			 April 50 23,400 
			 May 45 19,900 
			 June 40 17,500 
			 July 40 18,700 
			 August 45 22,800 
			 September 45 25,000 
			 October 30 15,000 
		
	
	The allocation of payments to precise payment dates requires a degree of estimation and are therefore rounded to the nearest 5,000. The value of manual payments made also requires a degree of estimation and are therefore rounded to the nearest 100,000.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit award notices have been issued in each (a) year, (b) quarter and (c) month since 2001–02; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: There are more than 6 million families benefiting from tax credits at present. Each adult included in a tax credit award receives an award notice when the initial claim has been decided, each time a change of circumstance is reported, and another after the end of the year when their claim is renewed.
	Child tax credit and working tax credit (CTC and WTC) were introduced in April 2003 replacing children's tax credit, working families' tax credit and disabled person's tax credit; however, (the former) Inland Revenue started issuing CTC and WTC award notices from February 2003. The number of award notices issued in each month since February 2003 is provided in the table.
	
		
			  Thousand 
			 (b) and (c) Month Numbers of notices issued each month(15) 
		
		
			 2003  
			 February 258 
			 March 2,602 
			 April 2,415 
			 May 3,066 
			 June 2,062 
			 July 2,289 
			 August 1,072 
			 September 1,553 
			 October 1,595 
			 November 1,116 
			 December 1,053 
			 2004  
			 January 1,310 
			 February 1,140 
			 March 2,124 
			 April 1,502 
			 May 4,105 
			 June 4,914 
			 July 4,014 
			 August 3,430 
			 September 3,354 
			 October 3,932 
			 November 1,809 
			 December 1,072 
			 2005  
			 January 1,398 
			 February 1,516 
			 March 2,725 
			 April 3,260 
			 May 3,571 
			 June 4,475 
			 July 3,388 
			 August 3,698 
			 September 4,340 
		
	
	(15) Figures to month end.

Budgetary Forecast

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the projected direct budgetary support from his Department for each country is for the next three years.

Hilary Benn: DFID plans for Poverty Reduction Budgetary Support (PRBS) for the period 2005–06 to 2007–08, broken down by country and region, are as set out in the table. The figures include amounts earmarked for General PRBS and Sector PRBS.
	All forecast figures are provisional and subject to review against progress towards meeting agreed development objectives.
	
		
			£ 
			  PRBS total 
			 Country/region 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 
		
		
			 Africa
			 DRC 0 0 0 
			 Ethiopia (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Ghana 25,000 35,000 35,000 
			 Kenya 0 0 0 
			 Malawi 25,000 20,000 20,000 
			 Mozambique 35,000 40,000 40,000 
			 Nigeria 0 0 0 
			 Rwanda 31,000 31,000 31,000 
			 Sierra Leone 15,000 15,000 (18)— 
			 South Africa 0 0 0 
			 Sudan 0 0 0 
			 Tanzania 85,000 90,000 105,000 
			 Uganda 50,000 55,000 55,000 
			 Zambia 16,000 21,300 12,500 
			 Zimbabwe 0 0 0 
			 Total 282,000 307,300 298,500 
			 
			 Asia
			 Afghanistan 0 0 0 
			 Bangladesh 8,000 6,000 5,000 
			 Burma 0 0 0 
			 Cambodia 0 0 0 
			 China 0 0 0 
			 East Timor 0 0 0 
			 India 119,000 137,000 158,500 
			 Indonesia 0 0 0 
			 Nepal 10,000 10,000 10,000 
			 Pakistan 37,000 47,000 38,000 
			 Sri Lanka 0 0 0 
			 Vietnam 42,000 38,000 40,000 
			 Total 216,000 238,000 251,500 
			 
			 Rest of the world
			 Nicaragua 850 1,000 (18)— 
			 Palestine Authority 5,000 (18)— (18)— 
			 Total 5,850 1,000 (18)— 
			 
			 Total PRBS 503,850 546,300 550,000 
		
	
	(18) To be decided.

Earthquake (Kashmir)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths from exposure that will occur this winter following the earthquake in Kashmir.

Gareth Thomas: It is not possible to give a meaningful estimate of possible deaths from exposure in affected areas during the winter months. The Government of Pakistan and international relief effort is focussed on providing shelter and other assistance to those who choose to remain above the snow line and also providing camps for those relocating to lower altitudes. The immediate priorities are to deliver shelter materials with "warm rooms" to remove the risks of exposure and provide water and sanitation interventions for the camps to prevent the spread of disease. The emergency shelter programme involves mobile outreach teams providing material and technical support for the construction of "warm rooms" for families above the snow line. To support this effort an 86-strong Royal Engineers unit has deployed to the region.
	The Government are providing £58 million towards the international relief effort and has allocated £70 million for reconstruction.

St. Helena

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the (a) costs and (b) total investment that will be forthcoming from (i) the Department for International Development, (ii) other UK Government Departments, (iii) the EU, (iv) private companies and (v) other sources for the proposed redevelopment of the island of St. Helena.

Gareth Thomas: There are no plans to redevelop St. Helena. Last March, however, I announced proposals to build an airport and establish air services for the island by or around 2010. The commitment was subject to satisfactory contract bids and a rigorous environmental impact assessment. The project budget has not been made public, as to do so might prejudice competition for the airport "design, build and operate" contract. The cost of the airport will be additional to DFID's regular support for St. Helena, currently running at some £14 million per annum.
	St. Helena is also eligible for support from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) "Good Governance" and "Economic Diversification" programmes, plus a "Governor's Delegated Fund" and a joint DFID/FCO Overseas Territories Environmental Programme. Disbursements from those sources are expected to total around £250,000 this year. Funds currently available to St. Helena from the European Union total over £9 million, all of which St. Helena hopes to utilise over the next few years for improvements to its wharf facilities.
	No private sector funding is envisaged for the airport. All private sector interest in St. Helena, however, will be welcome and considered on an equal footing. We are currently helping St. Helena to review its tourism and inward investment policies, following the decision to build an airport. The aim is for agreed policy to guide investment, and not vice versa.

St. Helena

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been allocated for the construction of an airstrip on St. Helena.

Gareth Thomas: Our estimates have not been published, as to do so could commercially prejudice current procurement processes.

Council Tax

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of spending by (a) Derbyshire county council, (b) Derbyshire Dales district council and (c) Amber Valley borough council has been financed from council tax in each of the years since 1 January 1996.

Phil Woolas: The percentage of revenue expenditure by Derbyshire county council, Derbyshire Dales district council and Amber Valley borough council that has been financed from council tax in each financial year since 1996–97 is tabled as follows:
	
		
			Percentage 
			  Derbyshire county council Derbyshire Dales district council Amber Valley borough council 
		
		
			 1996–97 26.1 38.4 31.2 
			 1997–98 28.7 40.0 38.6 
			 1998–99 30.2 39.7 38.5 
			 1999–2000 30.3 45.6 39.2 
			 2000–01 30.1 47.0 42.4 
			 2001–02 30.2 46.6 38.7 
			 2002–03 31.2 43.0 34.5 
			 2003–04 30.0 47.5 37.4 
			 2004–05 29.0 52.2 35.4 
			 2005–06 28.0 52.7 38.2 
		
	
	The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from revenue summary (RS) returns for 1996–97 to 2003–04, and revenue account budget (RA) returns for 2004–05 and 2005–06.
	The definition of council expenditure used here is that expenditure funded from aggregate external finance (AEF), council tax and authorities' reserves.
	Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information. In particular, the outturn data for 1996–97 to 2002–03 have been calculated on a non-FRS (financial reporting standard) 17 basis while the outturn data for 2003–04 has been calculated on an FRS 17 basis. The budget data for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are a mix of FRS 17 and non-FRS 17. This is because for their 2004–05 and 2005–06 budget forms local authorities, after consultation, were given the option to complete their forms either on a non-FRS 17 basis or on an FRS 17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.

Planning

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he treats the provisions relating to the correction of errors in decisions set out in part five of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 as applying to decisions made as a result of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and whether he treats the 2000 Act as a planning act for the purposes of part five of the 2004 Act.

Yvette Cooper: The power to correct errors in decisions contained in part 5 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 relates only to the errors in decision documents set out in section 59(4). Decision made under the Countryside and Right of Way Act 2000are not listed in section 59(4). The "planning Acts" in section 59(4)(h) is defined by section 117(4) and does not include the Countryside and Right of Way Act 2000.

Super Output Areas

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans his Department has to use super output areas as a means to direct funding towards pockets of deprivation.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has used both district level and super output area (SOA) level data to allocate the new Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) resources. As well as, the district level summaries of the Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID04) to determine which areas should be eligible for NRF because this data takes into account the extent of deprivation across a local authority as a whole.
	However, the new SOA level data has been used to determine the amount of NRF allocated to each eligible authority.
	SOA data has also been used to allocate Neighbourhood Element of the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF (NE)) worth £160 million over four years 2006–10 and the Cleaner Safer Greener (CSG) element of SSCF, worth an additional £105 million for the two years 2006–08. This brings together a total package of nearly £1.3 billion to help local authorities and their partners in narrowing the gap between deprived areas and the rest of the country.
	SOA data provides a better picture of the number of people living in very deprived neighbourhoods within each local authority than the old ward level data did.

Court Performance Targets

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the national performance targets are for Crown courts; and what the performance of each Crown court in Devon and Cornwall has been against those targets;
	(2)  what the national performance targets are for magistrates courts; and what the performance of Torquay Magistrates Court has been against those targets;
	(3)  what the national performance targets are for county courts; and what the performance of the (a) Torquay and (b) Newton county courts has been against those targets.

Harriet Harman: The following tables set out the key performance indicators for the Crown, county and magistrates courts and the national target levels for 2005–06. The tables show performance figures for the Crown court centres in Devon and Cornwall, magistrates courts data, which is only available at the Devon and Cornwall area level, and county court data for Torquay. Newton Abbot county court was closed on 30 March 1996 and merged with Torquay county court.
	
		Devon and Cornwall area statistics—Financial year to date, April to October 2005
		
			  Devon and Cornwall crown court 
			 Courts Ineffective trial rate Ineffective trial rate national target Number of sitting days (FYD) Allocation of days for sittings (FYD) 
		
		
			 Exeter 7.1 17.0 412.0 — 
			 Plymouth 16.8 17.0 306.5 — 
			 Truro 67 17.0 252.0 — 
			 Barnstaple(22) 0.0 17.0 19.0 — 
			 Devon and Cornwall 10.9 17.0 989.5 889 
		
	
	(22) Barnstaple's ineffective trial rate is 0.0% due to the fact that the cases in that court were either cracked or effective.
	Note:
	Sitting days allocated at area level.
	
		National targets
		
			 Percentage 
			  Committals for trial—78% 16 weeks or less Section 51 (Narey/Sent for trial)—78% 26 weeks or less 78% 
			  In custody On bail Custody and bail In custody On bail Custody and bail Sentence 10 weeks or less Appeals 14 weeks or less All types % in target 
		
		
			 Exeter 97.1 78.0 80.6 81.8 70.7 74.8 85.4 94.0 81.8 
			 Plymouth 80.0 48.4 57.1 71.4 51.3 62.5 80.2 84.2 66.6 
			 Truro 87.0 66.7 70.7 76.0 82.1 79.7 87.7 89.1 79.5 
			 Barnstaple 83.3 80.0 80.8 — 0.0 0.0 100.0 62.5 79.6 
			 Devon and  Cornwall 86.3 63.0 68.5 76.4 68.3 71.8 84.5 87.7 75.6 
		
	
	
		Devon and Cornwall magistrates courts
		
			  April to August (FYD) National target (days) 
		
		
			 Persistent Young Offenders   
			 Devon and Cornwall 59 71 
			 Magistrates courts only 53 — 
			 Crown court only 195 — 
		
	
	Note:
	Data for persistent young offenders financial year to date is only available for the period April to August. The target for persistent young offenders is not split into separate targets for the magistrates courts and Crown court.
	
		Devon and Cornwall magistrates courts
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Ineffective trials  
			 Ineffective trial rate (April to September 2005) 22.8 
			 National targets for 2005–06 23.0 
			   
			 Enforcement of penalties  
			 April to September 2005 (FYTD) 99.7 
			 National payment rate target in 2005–06 81 
		
	
	
		Torquay county court
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Claims  
			 Small Claim  
			 %<=15 weeks (Target 78%) 91.3 
			 Fast Track  
			 % <=30 weeks (Target 78%) 81.5 
			   
			 Multi Track  
			 %<=60 weeks (Target 78%) 81.0 
			   
			 All  
			 % Dealt on time (not targeted) 89.1 
			   
			 Attachment of earnings  
			 All Disposals  
			 % <= 10 weeks (Target 70%) 78.6 
		
	
	
		
			Percentage 
			  Application—nisi Nisi—order All 
			  Percentage dealt in time 
			  (<=2 weeks) (<=10 weeks) Dealt in respective times (target=70%) 
		
		
			 Charging Orders 96.1 94.8 95.5 
			 
			 3rdParty Orders 100.0 100.0 100.0 
		
	
	
		Children Act Private Law Orders
		
			  Percentage 
			 Parental Resp. orders (PRO)  
		
		
			 % <=40 weeks 91.3 
			   
			 s.8 Contact  
			 % <= 40 weeks 71.5 
			   
			 s.8 Residence  
			 % <=40 weeks 78.3 
			   
			 s.8 Specific issue  
			 % <=40 weeks 100.0 
			   
			 s.8 Prohibited steps  
			 %<=40 weeks 100.0 
			   
			 Private (PRO and s.8)  
			 % <=40 weeks (Target 70%) 76.2

Abandoned Vehicle Recovery

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on (a) recovering and (b) disposing of abandoned vehicles in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: Removal and disposal of abandoned vehicles is primarily a district council function. However, where an obstruction is caused on the highway, there is a responsibility for roads service. An analysis of recovery and disposal costs is not available and figures for councils can be provided only for the last three years, as this was not held centrally until 2002–03.
	The expenditure for clearing abandoned vehicles in Northern Ireland since 1997 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			£ 
			  Roads service expenditure District council expenditure Total 
		
		
			 1996–97 33,044 — 33,044 
			 1997–98 23 — 23 
			 1998–99 338 — 338 
			 1999–2000 514 — 514 
			 2000–01 358 — 358 
			 2001–02 663 — 663 
			 2002–03 351 124,490 124,841 
			 2003–04 441 185,143 185,584 
			 2004–05 674 91,821 92,495

Freedom of Information

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Freedom of Information applications his Department has received; how many have taken more than 20 days to process; and how many of these gave rise to complaints about the time taken.

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 have been received by each of the Northern Ireland Government Departments in 2005.

Angela Smith: Since the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came fully into operation on 1 January 2005, the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister has published statistics on the performance of the 11 Northern Ireland Departments on a quarterly basis. Similarly, figures for the Northern Ireland Office are included in the Department for Constitutional Affairs quarterly update for Whitehall Departments. The total number of requests received by each Department between 1 January 2005 and 30 June 2005 are set out in the following table. The table also notes the number of requests that took more than 20 days to process. Figures for the third quarter, 1 July 2005 to 30 September 2005, should be available towards the end of the year. Only two Departments have received complaints referring to the time taken to process a request. The Department for Regional Development has received one complaint, while the Department of the Environment has received three.
	
		
			 Department Number of requests received(28) Number of requests where 20 working day deadline was extended(29) Number of other requests where the 20 working day deadline was exceeded 
		
		
			 Agriculture and Rural Development 131 3 7 
			 Culture, Arts and Leisure (30)548 3 22 
			 Education 75 7 3 
			 Employment and Learning 51 2 1 
			 Enterprise, Trade and Investment 35 4 2 
			 Finance and Personnel 212 8 2 
			 Health, Social Services and Public Safety 65 2 0 
			 Environment 414 6 71 
			 Regional Development 208 2 8 
			 Social Development 86 2. 9 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 48 3 2 
			 Northern Ireland Office 110 18 20 
		
	
	(28) Figures include requests made under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs).
	(29) This figure includes the number of requests made under the FOI Act, where the 20-day period was extended to allow consideration of the balance of the public interest, and the number of requests made under the EIRs, where the 20-day period was extended because of the complexity or volume of the request.
	(30) The DCAL figure includes requests made to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Housing

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many houses have been built in (a) Belfast East, (b) Belfast North, (c) Belfast South and (d) Belfast West in each year since 1980.

Angela Smith: Accurate data to answer the question is not readily available. However, the Annual Housing Land Availability Monitor prepared by DOE, Planning Service provides information from 1998 on the annual amount of residential units built in Belfast city council area set out as follows. Castlereagh and Newtownabbey council areas are also included for information.
	
		Housing Completions from 1998 to 2004
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004  
			 District council area 1998 to 1999 1999 to 2000 2000 to 2001 2001 to 2002 2002 to 2003 2003 to 2004 Total 
		
		
			 Belfast 675 1,217 1,342 1,490 1,656 1,660 8,040 
			 Castlereagh 140 331 188 103 98 185 1,045 
			 Newtownabbey 583 525 572 500 635 608 3,423 
			 Total 1,398 2,073 2,102 2,093 2,389 2,453 12,508 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures produced as of 2004 Housing Monitor Survey
	Source:
	Planning Service—Housing Land Availability Monitor

Medical Instruments

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was spent by each health board on medical instruments for use in each year since 1998; and what the projected spend in Northern Ireland is in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007.

Shaun Woodward: The expenditure on the purchase and maintenance of medical and surgical equipment incurred by each health board (including the spend for the board itself and the trusts within the host board area) for the period 1998–99 to 2003–04 is given as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			  EHSSB NHSSB SHSSB WHSSB Total 
		
		
			 1998–99 23,839 4,252 3,318 4,149 35,558 
			 1999–2000 25,378 4,559 3,191 3,965 37,093 
			 2000–01 27,311 4,877 4,960 4,813 41,961 
			 2001–02 29,641 5,976 5,285 5,919 46,821 
			 2002–03 33,669 2,782 6,398 6,843 49,692 
			 2003–04 38,947 3,250 6,481 6,809 55,487 
			   
			 Total 178,785 25,696 29,633 32,498 266,612 
		
	
	The estimated expenditure for 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2006–07 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Neighbourhood Partnerships

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the members on each Neighbourhood Partnership in the four Belfast constituencies; what the position of each on the Neighbourhood Partnership is and who they represent.

David Hanson: Details of membership of each established partnership including the organisation they represent has been placed in the Library.
	It should be noted that the boundary of the Colin Neighbourhood Renewal Area also falls into the Lagan Valley constituency.
	
		List of Neighbourhood Partnerships established and details of their membership
		
			 Members Position Who they represent 
			 Inner North Belfast Partnership   
		
		
			 Paul Roberts Joint Lead Partner Ashton Centre 
			 Michael Donnelly Member Dept For Social Development, Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Harry Murphy Member Artillery Youth Centre 
			 Carol Ni Chuilin Member New Lodge 
			 Trish O'Kane Member Star Neighbourhood Centre 
			 Ian Crozier Joint Lead Partner Lower North Belfast Community Council 
			 John Dempsey Member Lower North Community Empowerment Partnership 
			 Catherine McCartan Member Lower North Community Empowerment Partnership 
			 Anne Thompson Member Lower North Belfast Community Council 
			 John McGewon Member North and West Health Trust 
			 Sharon Beattie Member Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			
			 Tullycarnet Neighbourhood Partnership   
			 Maggie Andrews Member East Belfast Partnership 
			 Joe Torney Member Department for Social Development 
			 Ann Martin Member Tullycarnet Community Forurn 
			 Davy Crothers Member Tullycarnet Community Forum 
			 Paul Lincolns Member Tullycarnet Presbyterian Church 
			 Frankie Gallagher Member Tullycarnet Action Group Initiative Trust 
			 Harry Flynn Member Tullycarnet Action Group Initiative Trust 
			 Paul Millar Member Hanwood Project 
			 Paul Carland Member Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			 Lawrence Ferguson Member South and East Health Trust 
			
			 Inner East Belfast Neighbourhood Partnership   
			 Maggie Andrews Member East Belfast Partnership 
			 Joe Torney Member Department for Social Development Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Michael Briggs Acting c/person East Belfast Community Development Agency 
			 John Cochrane Member Mersey Street Area Residents Association 
			 Mervyn Gibson Member Ballymac Friendship Trust 
			 Glenn Jordan Member East Belfast Mission Enterprises Ltd. 
			 Colin Robinson Member Bridge Community Association 
			 Cliff Kennedy Member Oasis Caring in Action Ltd. 
			 Bernie McConnell Member Short Strand Community Association 
			 Yvonne Cowan Member South and East Health Trust 
			 Richard Williamson Member Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			
			 Inner South Neighbourhood Partnership   
			 Gerry Doherty Member South Belfast Partnership Board 
			 Joe Torney Member Department for Social Development, Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Seamus Flynn Member Markets Development Association 
			 Deidre Hargie Member Markets Development Association 
			 Peter Montgomery Member Markets Development Association 
			 Marie Kavannagh Member Lower Ormeau Community Forum 
			 Gerard Rice Member Lower Ormeau Road Action Group 
			 Ken Orr Member Donegall Pass Community Forum 
			 Vacant Member Donegall Pass Community Forum 
			 Stephanie Green Member Donegall Pass Community Forum 
			 Ken Humphrey Member Mornington Community Project Ltd. 
			 Liam Kinney Member Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			 Rowan Davidson Member South and East Health Trust 
			
			 South West Belfast Partnership   
			 Gerry Doherty Member South Belfast Partnership 
			 Joe Torney Member Department for Social Development, Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Ian Robinson Member Sandy Row Community Forum 
			 Cora McCann Member Sandy Row Community Forum 
			 Glenda Davies Member Sandy Row Community Forum 
			 Garnet Busby Member Belfast South Community Resources 
			 Tommy Wilson Member Greater Village Regeneration Trust 
			 Robin Lyttle Member South Belfast Malecare 
			 Paula Bradshaw Member Greater Village Regeneration Trust 
			 Eleanor Jordan Member Windsor Women's Centre 
			 Liam Kinney Member Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			 Gabi Mornhinweg Member South and East Health Trust 
			
			 Lenadoon Neighbourhood Partnership   
			 Michael Doherty Chairperson Lenadoon Community Forum 
			 Danny Barr Community Rep  
			 Aidan Campbell Community Rep Glen Community Parent/Youth Group 
			 Renee Crawford Community Rep Lenadoon Community Forum 
			 Maria Fox Community Rep Local Residents Association 
			 FR. Martin Magill Community Rep Parish Priest 
			 Tim Attwood Political Rep Belfast City Council 
			 Michael Ferguson Political Rep Sinn Fein 
			 Gerard O'Neill Political Rep Belfast City Council 
			 Marie-Claire Ferris Business Rep Work West 
			 Robin Livingstone Business Rep Andersonstown News 
			 Vincent McAuley Business Rep First Trust Bank 
			 Martin McDermott Statutory Rep Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Gary Ballentyne Statutory Rep Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			 John McGeown Statutory Rep North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Rep 
			
			 Colin Neighbourhood Partnership   
			 Ciaran Sheehan Chairperson Private Sector 
			 Martin McDermott Statutory Rep Department for Social Development, Belfast Regeneration Office 
			 Danny Cochrane Statutory Rep Northern Ireland Housing Executive 
			 Kate Thompson Statutory Rep Down Lisburn Trust 
			 Jim Clarke Statutory Rep Catholic Controlled Maintained Schools 
			 Cybil Skelton Statutory Rep South Eastern Education and Library Board 
			 Gerard Daye Community Rep Lagmore 
			 Annie Armstrong Community Rep Twinbrook 
			 Cecilia Whitehorn Community Rep Kilwee 
			 Cllr Patricia Lewsley Political Rep SDLP 
			 Cllr Michael Ferguson Political Rep Sinn Fein 
			 Cllr William Ward Political Rep UUP 
			 Cllr Angela Nelson Political Rep Sinn Fein 
			 Eamon Foster Sectoral Rep Business 
			 Gillian Gibson Sectoral Rep Women and Family 
			 Tim Duffy Sectoral Rep Environment 
			 Joseph McGinnity Sectoral Rep Parish Issues 
			 Bill McComb Sectoral Rep Youth

Quangos

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are members of quangos in Northern Ireland; and what the total cost of quangos in Northern Ireland was in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: Information on the number of members of each non-departmental public body in Northern Ireland, and their cost (shown as total gross expenditure) since 1998, can be found in the Cabinet Office annual publication "Public Bodies", copies of which are held in the Library. Information for 2004 and 2005 is also detailed on the on-line searchable database, accessible through the Cabinet Office website:
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/the_future_of_the_civil_service/agencies_public_bodies/index.asp.

Recycling

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to increase the amount of household waste that is recycled annually in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) promotes the recycling of household waste in two main ways: grant support to district councils and through education and awareness programmes. Its work has yielded encouraging results, with the overall household recycling rate in Northern Ireland growing from 10 per cent. in 2002 to 18.9 per cent. in 2004–05. All district councils in Northern Ireland have increased their household recycling rates. Two district councils have achieved a household recycling rate of almost 40 per cent.
	Since 2001, EHS has provided councils with £36 million via the Waste Management Grant Scheme to help procure infrastructure and assist with operating costs associated with meeting their Waste Management Plans. In 2004–05, £10 million was distributed under the scheme which will finish in 2006–07. Future support for councils will be reviewed in light of the new Waste Management Strategy which is currently out for consultation and is scheduled for publication in March 2006.
	The "Wake up to Waste" campaign succeeded in raising the profile of waste management among the general public. EHS continues to reinforce the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" messages and develop new initiatives aimed at achieving behavioural change through education and awareness.

Work Force

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total estimated work force was in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.

David Hanson: Estimates of the number of work force jobs at June each year in Northern Ireland for the period 1996 to 2005 can be found in the following table.
	
		Work force jobs(37)(38) in Northern Ireland
		
			 June of each year Number 
		
		
			 1996 692,300 
			 1997 712,500 
			 1998 720,300 
			 1999 731,100 
			 2000 749,400 
			 2001 763,100 
			 2002 771,100 
			 2003 790,100 
			 2004 794,900 
			 2005 808,600 
		
	
	(37) This includes employee jobs, self-employment jobs and Government-supported trainees.
	(38) Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	Source:
	DETI

Breast Cancer

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure the rapid approval of Herceptin for early stage breast cancer.

Jane Kennedy: I have asked the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to do everything possible to ensure that formal applications from the company are evaluated and determined as rapidly and efficiently as possible while ensuring appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy are maintained by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency, the scientific experts and the European Commission.

Herceptin

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the availability of Herceptin on prescription throughout the NHS.

Jane Kennedy: Data on the availability of Herceptin on prescription throughout the national health service is not collected centrally.
	However, in 2004 Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, published a report which examined the usage of certain cancer drugs across the country, including Herceptin. An update of Professor Richard's report will be published next year and will provide a picture of Herceptin prescribing in the first half of 2005.
	Herceptin is already licensed and available on the NHS for woman diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. It is not yet licensed for women with early breast cancer but, as with other unlicensed drugs, can be used in some cases.

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the forecast year-end deficit of Oxfordshire Mental Health NHS Trust is in 2005–06; and what the year-end position of the trust has been in each year since 1997–98.

Caroline Flint: The Department does not currently publish unaudited information relating to the in-year financial position of national health service organisations. The following table shows the audited year-end financial position of Oxfordshire Mental Health Trust from 1997–98 to 2004–05.
	
		Organisation: Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust £000
		
			  Over/(under) spend 
		
		
			 1997–98 (3,311) 
			 1998–99 (1,855) 
			 1999–2000 (2,153) 
			 2000–01 7,343 
			 2001–02 8 
			 2002–03 1 
			 2003–04 2 
			 2004–05 2

PCT Commissioning (Oxfordshire)

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions there were between her Department and the Thames Valley strategic health authority on the subject of putting primary care trust commissioning in Oxfordshire out to tender prior to its announcement.

Caroline Flint: holding answer Monday 28 November 2005
	Discussions were held at official level with Thames Valley strategic health authority (SHA) regarding their proposals prior to their submissions.
	We wanted SHAs, in partnership with local stakeholders, to identify various options for the reconfiguration of locally, which would then be assessed by the external panel against the criteria in "Commissioning a Patient-led NHS". If the proposals are adjudged to meet these, they will be subject to full public consultation.
	I regret that my previous response on this matter, to question 26170, on 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 971W, was incorrect.

Private Sector NHS Treatment

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether guarantees have been given to private sector providers of health services regarding the proportion of NHS patient services that will be transferred to them;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with private sector health providers regarding the transfer of NHS services;
	(3)  what guarantees private sector health providers have sought regarding the transfer of NHS services to enable them to secure financial backing for their businesses.

Liam Byrne: Patients will decide if they want to use an independent or national health service service.
	No guarantees have been given to private sector providers of health services regarding the proportion of NHS patient services that will be transferred to them.
	No discussions have taken place with private sector health providers regarding the transfer of NHS services, and no guarantees have been sought. Providers will have to bid against the terms laid down by the Department.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the time scales are for achievement of all aspects of 2004 public service agreement target number three.

Caroline Flint: The Department's public service agreement (PSA) targets and associated technical notes were agreed with HM Treasury as part of 2004 spending review and are published on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk. PSA technical notes contain the measurement details of the targets including specific time scales are for achievement of all aspects 2004 public service agreement target number three.

Absent Parents

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many payments by absent parents have been written off as irrecoverable in each year since 1997; what the (a) average and (b) upper decile value of such payments is; and how many payments are in the upper decile.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Andrew Turner, dated 28 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many payments by absent parents have been written off as irrecoverable in each year since 1997; what the (a) average and (b) upper decile value of such payments is; and how many payments are in the upper decile.
	The Agency has no legislative power to write off debt, and current debt is now the cumulative total of 12 years. However for accounting purposes the Agency recognises that in some cases some debt is "probably un-collectable" (for example, where the non-resident parent is long-term unemployed, has gone abroad, or has died). The accounts are therefore adjusted accordingly.
	The cumulative total of "probably un-collectable" debt from 1997, as reported in the Agency's Annual Reports and Accounts, is summarised in the following table:
	
		
			  Amounts classed as probably un-collectable (£ million) 
		
		
			 2004–05 1,984.400 
			 2003–04 2,004.847 
			 2002–03 1,965.340 
			 2001–02 1,915.312 
			 2000–01 1,692.380 
			 1999–2000 1,410.853 
			 1998–99 1,069.680 
			 1997–98 829.237 
			 1996–97 748.040 
		
	
	The amounts stated as probably un-collectable in the accounts are based on a statistically valid sample and do not relate to specific cases. Unfortunately the Agency does not hold information on the average and upper decile value of unpaid maintenance payments.
	I hope you find this information useful.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to resolve complaints to the Child Support Agency for (a) old scheme cases and (b) new scheme cases.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 29 November 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to resolve complaints to the Child Support Agency for (a) old scheme cases and (b) new scheme cases.
	The Agency has an internal target to resolve 68% of client complaints or agree a resolution plan within 15 working days of receipt of a complaint from a Child Support Agency client. I cannot provide the average time taken to resolve complaints but year-to-date information on performance against this standard is set out in the table below.
	
		Percentage of CSA client complaints for which a resolution plan has been agreed within 15 days of the receipt of the complaint, by scheme, September 2005
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Old scheme 91 
			 New scheme 87 
			 Overall 88 
		
	
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the total cost to date of the set-up and running costs of the Enforcement Directorate.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the total cost to date of the set-up and running costs of the Enforcement Directorate.
	The Enforcement Director was appointed on 1 November 2004 and the Directorate went live from 1 April 2005.
	The set up costs were approximately £100k and the running costs for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 October 2005 amount to approximately £6.6m which includes legal costs and bailiff charges. This does not include the staffing costs for the Belfast Enforcement Team.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average administration cost per case on (a) the new scheme and (b) the old scheme was in each of the last four years.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average administration cost per case on (a) the new scheme and (b) the old scheme was in each of the last four years.
	Information is not currently available in the format requested. We expect information on administration costs for the Child Support Agency to be available after the Departments new Resource Management System is introduced in the Child Support Agency in 2006. In the meantime, the Agency does publish interim unit cost information in accordance with Public Service Agreement (PSA 9) which is contained in the Annual Report and Accounts.
	As the new child support scheme was only introduced from March 2003 only data from then to October 2005 would be available.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the backlog of new claims held by the Child Support Agency.
	The information requested can be found in Table 2 of the CSA Quarterly Statistical Supplement which was published on the Departments website on 27th October. A copy of this table is attached as an annex to this letter.
	I hope you find this useful.
	
		CSA Table 2: New application intake, clearances and work on hand Number and percentage
		
			  2005 
			 CSA intake and clearances—scheme to date January February March April May June July August September 
		
		
			 New Scheme  
			 Intake 557,000 582,000 608,000 632,000 657,000 682,000 708,000 731,000 755,000 
			   
			 Cases Cleared 298,000 318,000 342,000 366,000 393,000 419,000 444,000 466,000 494,000 
			   
			 Not progressed to calculation and schedule set up 155,000 166,000 180,000 195,000 213,000 229,000 245,000 258,000 276,000 
			 of which:  
			 Closed 129,000 138,000 150,000 163,000 180,000 195,000 208,000 220,000 236,000 
			 Good Cause 8,000 8,000 9,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 11,000 12,000 12,000 
			 Reduced Benefit Decision 5,000 6,000 6,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 8,000 8,000 9,000 
			 Other 13,000 14,000 15,000 15,000 16,000 17,000 18,000 19,000 19,000 
			   
			 Calculated and schedule set up 143,000 152,000 162,000 171,000 180,000 190,000 199,000 209,000 219,000 
			 of which:  
			 Subsequently closed 6,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 8,000 8,000 8,000 9,000 9,000 
			 Initially Nil Calculated 21,000 23,000 24,000 26,000 28,000 29,000 31,000 33,000 34,000 
			 Initially Maintenance Direct 10,000 12,000 13,000 15,000 16,000 18,000 19,000 21,000 23,000 
			 Initially Collection Service 105,000 111,000 117,000 123,000 129,000 135,000 141,000 146,000 153,000 
			 of which:  
			 One or more payments received 82,000 86,000 93,000 98,000 104,000 109,000 115,000 121,000 126,000 
			 Awaiting payment 24,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 
			   
			 Uncleared applications 259,000 264,000 266,000 266,000 265,000 263,000 263,000 264,000 261,000 
			 of which:  
			 Prior to calculation 236,000 241,000 242,000 242,000 240,000 238,000 238,000 238,000 234,000 
			 Calculated, awaiting schedule set up 23,000 24,000 24,000 24,000 25,000 25,000 26,000 26,000 27,000 
			   
			 Old Scheme  
			 Outstanding applications 103,000 92,000 87,000 86,000 82,000 78,000 76,000 75,000 73,000 
			   
			 Percentage cases for whom maintenance is due who have made one or more payments via collection service, or had an initial maintenance direct arrangement in place. 66 67 68 70 71 71 72 73 74 
			   
			 Percentage cases who have been charged via the collection service and for whom one or more payments received 77 78 79 80 81 81 82 82 83 
			   
			 Percentage of clearances which result in a initial calculation and schedule set up 48 48 47 47 46 45 45 45 44 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A case is defined as cleared if a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement between the parent with care and the non resident parent is in place; a case has been identified as claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case; or the case has been closed.
	2. Figures exclude new scheme cases which have been progressed and cleared clerically. This is because it is not possible to determine how many clerically progressed cases are still included in the Agency's work in progress, or were originally included in the intake figures.
	3. New scheme uncleared figures include cases transferred from Jobcentre Plus which are awaiting processing and input to the main CS2 computer system (some 81,000 cases). These figures may be subject to revision in future issues of these tables.
	4. Percentage cases for whom maintenance is due who have made one or more payments via collection service, or had an initial maintenance direct arrangement in place is arrived at by summing number of cases receiving payment via collection service or on maintenance direct and expressing as a percentage of sum of collection service cases, those on maintenance direct and those with a calculation and no charging schedule.
	5. Volumes are rounded to the nearest thousand, and percentages to nearest whole per cent.
	6. Robust data from the new IT system (CS2) covering the period March 2003-December 2004 is not currently available, and is under development.

Child Support Agency

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average number of Child Support Agency staff who deal with each case brought to the agency by parents with care.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average number of Child Support Agency staff who deal with each case brought to the Agency by parents with care.
	I am unable to answer this question as we do not record information on the numbers of staff who deal with each case.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the compliance rate for the self-employed in cases with the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made for the compliance rate for the self-employed in cases with the Child Support Agency.
	In September 2005, the case compliance rate for collection service cases in which non-resident parent was classified as self-employed was 63%. This compares to an overall Agency case compliance rate of 70%.
	A case is defined as case compliant if it was open at the end of the reporting period, and had paid all or part of any maintenance that was due (either regular or arrears) via the collection service over the preceding quarter.
	Additionally, the Agency measures cash compliance, which is the total amount of maintenance received via the collection service over any three month period as a percentage of the total amount charged (both regular maintenance and arrears). In September 2005, the cash compliance rate for cases in which non resident parent was classified as self-employed was 60%. This compares to an overall Agency cash compliance rate of 68%.
	These figures for self-employed reflect the status of the non-resident parent currently held on the system as at the last intervention by the Agency. This will not necessarily reflect the current status of the non-resident parent if the Agency has not been informed of, or not yet actioned, a change of circumstances.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition he uses of (a) full compliance and (b) partial compliance in Child Support Agency statistics; and whether the definition has changed in the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 29 November 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition he uses of (a) full compliance and (b) partial compliance with the Child Support Agency and whether the definition for statistical purposes has changed in the last five
	A case is defined as compliant if maintenance was due via the collection service (either regular maintenance and/or arrears) in the preceding quarter, the case was open at the end of that quarter, and any payment was received during the period.
	A case is considered to be fully compliant if the amount of maintenance received over the reporting period is greater than or equal to the amount charged, and partially compliant if a maintenance payment is received that is less than the amount due.
	The above definitions, for statistical purposes, have not changed over the last five years.
	I hope you find this useful.

Child Support Agency

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when Tina Smith, a constituent of the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, will receive the sum agreed to be owed to her by the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 24 November 2005
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Derek Wyatt, dated 29 November 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. I am replying on behalf of Stephen Geraghty as Director of Parliamentary Business.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when Tina Smith, a constituent of the honourable Member of Sittingbourne and Sheppey will receive the sum agreed as owed to her by the Child Support Agency.
	As details about individual cases are confidential I have written to you separately about this case.

Pension Service

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls made to the Pension Service (a) met an engaged tone, (b) were received and (c) were handled by an adviser during September, broken down by call centre; and what area is served by each call centre.

Stephen Timms: The administration of the Pension Service is a matter for the chief executive, Ms Alexis Cleveland. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. David Laws, dated 29 November 2005
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many calls made to the Pension Service have (a) met an engaged tone (b) been received and (c) been handled by an adviser during September broken down by call centre; and if he will provide details of the area served by each call centre. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of The Pension Service.
	During September 2005, 1,036,547 calls were received by The Pension Service and 986,811 were answered by agents, equating to 95.2% of total calls received.
	Of these calls received only 3,138 (0.3%) were blocked (attempted calls receiving an engaged tone or message during this period).
	The table below shows the number of calls received, calls answered and calls blocked in September 2005 for all Regional Pension Centres and the Pension Credit Application Line and shows the area served by each call centre. In addition I am now also able to supply details for the other telephone lines offered by the Pension Service.
	You will see that almost all the blocked calls occurred in our International Pension Centre. The telephony system in this centre is being upgraded, and since September the number of lines available to customers has been increased.
	
		
			   Breakdown by pension centre Attempted calls receiving an engaged tone or message (a)  Received calls (b)  Calls answered (c)   Area served 
		
		
			 Bath 0 41,879 40,597 Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and S. Devon 
			 Birmingham 0 30,420 29,267 Birmingham, Warwickshire, Coventry and Staffordshire. 
			 Blackpool 0 18,813 17,854 Shropshire, parts of Surrey, Brighton and Eastbourne 
			 Burnley 0 26,850 25,416 North Lancashire, Cumbria and parts of Essex (incl. Colchester and Southend) 
			 Cwmbran 5 29,870 28,532 Worthing, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and parts of Surrey 
			 Dearne Valley 0 37,229 36,241 West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Nottingham 
			 Dundee 0 46,367 45,241 East of Scotland and Scottish Highlands. Humberside and East Yorkshire. 
			 Leicester 0 22,330 21,032 Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire and parts of Derbyshire 
			 London Pension Centre (Glasgow) 0 22,946 21,579 Inner city London (incl. Harrow, Ealing and Hackney) 
			 London Pension Centre (Newcastle) 0 50,840 47,937 London (incl. Tottenham, Ilford, Fulham, Romford) and parts of Surrey 
			 Motherwell 0 41,578 39,649 West of Scotland and Kent. 
			 Norwich Baltic 0 13,215 12,601 Norwich. 
			 Norwich Kingfisher 0 8,783 8,346 Parts of Essex including Basildon and Harlow. 
			 Pension Credit Application Line 0 107,418 102,101 National 
			 Seaham 0 31,113 29,846 Tyne and Wear, Bradford. 
			 Stockport 0 44,456 40,901 Manchester, Fylde Coast, Cheshire, and parts of Derbyshire 
			 Stockton 0 18,101 17,448 Teeside, Durham, Northumberland. Grimsby. 
			 Swansea 0 48,029 45,141 Wales, Cornwall and N. Devon 
			 Walsall 0 21,660 20,284 Walsall and Wolverhampton. Herefordshire and Worcestershire 
			 Warrington 0 37,234 35,262 Merseyside, Wigan, Suffolk, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. 
			 International Pension Centre 3,131 45,606 41,950 International (Customers living outside GB) 
			 Retirement Pension Tele Claims 0 39,367 37,656 National 
			 Pensions Direct 1 72,961 72,186 National 
			 Pensioners Information Order line 0 7,958 7,182 National 
			 Pensioners Guide Order line 0 8,243 7,180 National 
			 Deficiency Notices Helpline 0 20,577 19,433 National 
			 RP Forecasting Team 1 106,888 100,529 National 
			 Winter Fuel Helpline 0 35,816 35,420 National 
			 Total 3138 1,036,547 986,811 — 
		
	
	I hope this information is helpful.

Welfare Reform/Incapacity Benefit

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral statement on welfare reform and incapacity benefit of 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1417, where and when the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam made the remarks to which he refers.

John Hutton: My recollection was that the hon. Member made the remarks during the "Health Question Time" session in which he and I participated, at the Royal College of Nursing Congress on 25 April 2005.
	On checking the record of that debate, I accept that the hon. Member referred to the retirement age of existing members of public sector pension schemes.

Basic Command Units

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which local authority wards are within each basic command unit in England and Wales.

Hazel Blears: In 2004 the research, development and statistics department (RDS) at the Home Office compiled a table detailing which local authority wards comprised each basic command unit in England and Wales. The majority of this information is still accurate and is available in the Library. Basic command unit and Ward boundaries are subject to change and in the absence of any current requirement for such data this table has not been updated. Any such updating could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.

Child Pornography

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will list the (a) internet service providers and (b) mobile phone companies who are using their technology to block access to child pornography websites;
	(2)  what action his Department is taking to encourage (a) internet service providers and (b) mobile phone companies to block customers' access to child pornography websites following the Prime Minister's statement of 21 July 2004, Official Report, column 327.

Paul Goggins: We are working closely with the UK Internet Service Provider (ISP) industry, mobile operators and the Internet Watch Foundation as they pioneer solutions that will block their customers' requests to access websites that include child abuse images. On 6 September, Alun Michael (DTI Minister for e-commerce) and I had a meeting with CEOs, or their representatives, from all the large ISPs and mobile phone operators. Until recently blocking sites was not a feasible option, but with improvements in technology it is now, and we welcome the efforts and
	commitment of major players in the industry in developing blocking solutions. All the major fixed and mobile ISPs either have solutions in place, or are committed to having them in place the near future. Given the sensitivity around this issue, not all companies wish to be named. Government will continue to work with the industry to restrict access to child abuse images.

Conviction Rates

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) burglaries and (b) crimes against individuals resulted in a conviction in each year since 1997; and what percentage resulted in custodial sentences.

Hazel Blears: The table shows the number of convictions for burglary and the number resulting in a custodial sentence expressed as a percentage of the number of burglaries recorded, in each year since 1997. Neither the recorded crime data nor the court proceedings data enable offences against individuals to be separately identified from offences against businesses and organisations in all cases.
	
		Number of burglary offences recorded by the police, offenders convicted of burglary at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody:  England and Wales 1993 to 2004–05
		
			 Financial years from 1998–99 onwards Number of burglary offences recorded by the police(42) Calendar years Defendants convicted of burglary at all courts(41) Defendants sentenced to immediate custody for burglary(41) 
			Number Percentage of recorded offences Number Percentage of recorded offences 
		
		
			 1993 1,369,584 1993 40,272 2.9 11,899 0.9 
			 1994 1,256,682 1994 37,952 3.0 13,036 1.0 
			 1995 1,239,484 1995 35,346 2.9 13,497 1.1 
			 1996 1,164,583 1996 32,194 2.8 13,503 1.2 
			 1997 1,015,075 1997 31,703 3.1 14,338 1.4 
			 1998–99(42) 953,184 1998 30,769 3.2 14,547 1.5 
			 1999–2000 906,468 1999 29,261 3.2 14,345 1.6 
			 2000–01 836,027 2000 26,222 3.1 13,677 1.6 
			 2001–02 878,509 2001 24,802 2.8 12,476 1.4 
			 2002–03(43) 888,827 2002 26,691 3.0 13,350 1.5 
			 2003–04 818,642 2003 25,726 3.1 11,820 1.4 
			 2004–05 679,973 2004 24,252 3.6 10,814 1.6 
		
	
	(41) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(42) The number of crimes recorded using the expanded coverage and rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(43) The recorded crime figured from 2002–03 onwards take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
	Source:
	RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer the letter to him dated 22 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to (a) Mr. Mohammed Ashraf and (b) Ms Juliet Kufvor.

Charles Clarke: The information is as follows:
	(a) I replied to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton about Mr. Mohammed Ashraf on 24 November.
	(b) I replied to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton about Ms Juliet Kufour on 11 November.

Crime Statistics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of crimes committed per day was in each police force area in the last year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: The available data relate to the number of crimes recorded by the police in a year. The latest information was published in table 6.02 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 11/05, "Crime in England and Wales 2004–05". This can be found on the following website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure the Department's websites attain the W3C AAA standard of accessibility for people with visual and other disabilities; and if he will set a target date for this standard to be achieved by.

Charles Clarke: Current Cabinet Office guidelines recommend that Government websites adhere to a minimum of W3C WAI A standard (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/2–4.asp2.4.3). However, the Home Office realises and understands that although this leads to websites that are acceptable to impaired users, their experience of the site is still sub-standard. As such we are committed to bringing all of our websites up to at least AA level.
	The core Home Office family of websites (sites with homeoffice.gov.uk addresses) has recently been redeveloped to improve the experience of all users. Before launch the sites were independently audited for their accessibility compliance and met most requirements up to AAA standard. Following final adjustments being made at present the sites will be resubmitted to RNIB for their 'See it Right' accreditation. They will then meet A, AA and most AAA criteria. This level will be met by Christmas 2005 with RNIB accreditation following in early 2006.
	All new websites built by the Department will either fit into the core set of sites and will therefore inherit their standards or will be objectively audited to ensure compliance.
	All new websites built by the department will either fit into the core set of sites and will therefore inherit their standards or will be objectively audited to ensure compliance.

Drugs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of drug users successfully completed drug treatment in 2004–05.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	Overall, 75 per cent. (120,700) individuals either successfully completed treatment in 2004–05 or were retained in treatment on 31 March 2004.
	53 per cent. of clients who were discharged remained in treatment for 12 weeks or more in 2004–05.
	The Government is on track to achieve the public service agreement target to
	"increase the participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 100 per cent. by 2008 and increase year on year the proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes".

Human Trafficking

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government will sign the Council of Europe Convention on trafficking in human beings.

Paul Goggins: The Government has not yet taken a decision on whether or not the United Kingdom (UK) will sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. While we support the aims of the Convention, there are provisions which present concerns for the UK and which remain under active consideration. We are assessing the level of risk associated with these provisions and considering actively how we might implement the Convention safely without placing more vulnerable people at risk.
	The Government is committed to tackling trafficking in human beings, domestically and internationally, and has in place a multi-faceted strategy on trafficking in human beings. We are determined that the measures we take bring the criminals responsible for this serious organised crime to justice, protect the victims of trafficking, and do not undermine our ability to control our borders.

Identity Cards Bill

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many copies of the Identity Cards Scheme DVD have been produced; and at what cost.

Charles Clarke: Ongoing engagement with stakeholders and research conducted with the general public showed an awareness of the Identity Cards Scheme, but a degree of misunderstanding about the details of the scheme and how Identity Cards would be used. It was decided to fund a DVD to help the Identity Cards Programme Team communicate the basic features of the scheme in a clear and concise way.
	To date, 250 copies of the Identity Cards Scheme DVD have been produced. The total cost of producing the DVD and making 50 copies was £70,482.38 and the subsequent cost of producing another 200 copies was £1,410.59, a unit cost of £7.05. Total cost for 250 copies was £71,892.96 including VAT.
	An extract from the DVD was made available for download on the Identity Cards website (www.identitycards.gov.uk) on 28 June 2005. From that date to 22 August 2005 the page had recorded 4,273 hits.

Investigatory Powers Tribunal

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many public hearings the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has held since its inception.

Hazel Blears: The Investigatory Powers Tribunal was established on 2 October 2000 and has held oral hearings in three cases. Those hearings have taken place in both open and "in camera" sessions.

Investigatory Powers Tribunal

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in each calendar year since its inception; and how many were adjudicated on in each year, broken down by result.

Hazel Blears: This information is published each year in the Annual Reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and Intelligence Services Commissioner.
	The published figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of complaints received Number of determinations given Number carried forward to next year 
		
		
			 2000–01 102 71 31 
			 2002 130 94 67 
			 2003 109 100 76 
			 2004(53) 90 115 51 
		
	
	(53) Last year for which published figures are available.
	On no occasion from its inception on 2 October 2000 until 31 December 2004 did the Tribunal determine that there had been a contravention of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 or the Human Rights Act 1998.

Metropolitan Police (Corruption)

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources the Metropolitan police has allocated to the detection and investigation of staff corruption in each of the last five years; how those resources have been deployed; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such deployment; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The deployment of resources within the Metropolitan police service is an operational matter for which the commissioner has sole responsibility. I will ensure that the commissioner receives a copy of the question and that he replies to you directly. Copies of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.

Operation Crackdown

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timescale is for Operation Crackdown; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Operation Crackdown was a concerted campaign by 33 police forces in England and Wales, to close drug dens, disrupt local drug markets, seize illegal firearms and bring dealers to justice.
	It was led by the Association of Chief Police Officers, working with the Home Office. It started on 12 January 2005 and ended on 31 March 2005.
	During the campaign the police reported that 170 "crack houses" were closed, 123kg of cocaine, 3.4kg of crack cocaine, 119.8kg of heroin and 86,059 ecstasy tablets were taken off the streets, police arrested 3,419 people for the supply of class A drugs; during operations to tackle class A drugs, 483 firearms (real and replica) were seized, and £3,242,932 of cash assets were seized.

Police

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidential basis was for the assumption that a minimum force size of 4,000 officers or 6,000 personnel in total is required for police constabulary efficiency.

Hazel Blears: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's report, "Closing the Gap", found that forces with over 4,000 officers or 6,000 staff tended to meet the standard for protective services in that they demonstrated good reactive capability with a clear measure of proactive capacity. Protective services were assessed against national standards identified and agreed with the Association of Chief Police Officers on intelligence (what is known about an issue), prevention (what is being done to stop this) and enforcement/resolution (what ability is there to intervene effectively).

Police

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time police officers there were in North Kent in each of the last eight years.

Hazel Blears: Information on police officer strength for North Kent basic command unit (BCU) is collected annually. The data reflect the position at the end of March and are only available from 2002. BCU strength between March 2002 and March 2005 is set out in the table. The deployment of police officers to North Kent is an operational matter for the chief constable.
	
		North Kent basic command unit—police officer strength—March 2002 to March 2005
		
			 Year (as at 31 March) Number of officers 
		
		
			 2002(54) 342 
			 2003(55) 363 
			 2004 399 
			 2005 387 
		
	
	(54) Data collected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
	(55) Data collected by Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.

Police

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policing considerations underlay his Department's instruction to police authorities that under their restructuring proposals any new force areas should not cross Government office regional boundaries.

Hazel Blears: The Home Secretary has stated to police forces and authorities that proposals for police force restructuring should not cross government office regional boundaries unless there is a compelling case to do so.
	The planning for effective and sustainable provision of protective services by the police requires the engagement of non-police partners including Government Offices, Regional Resilience Fora, local authorities, health authorities, and fire and ambulance services. A move away from coterminosity with these agencies could threaten the effectiveness of strategic partnership working, and hence has the potential to weaken the provision of protective services.
	The consultation process is still ongoing and is being driven locally by police forces and authorities, who are currently working in partnership with their key stakeholders to refine the business cases of their leading options, with their preferred option to be submitted to the Home Secretary by 23 December 2005.

Prevention of Terrorism Acts

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have (a) been detained and (b) charged since 11 September 2001 under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: Detention under anti terrorism legislation is provided for following an arrest under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The latest figures requested are published on the Home Office website:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act
	These statistics have been supplied by the police. They are compiled from recent police records and are therefore subject to adjustment as cases go through the system. These statistics reflect the operation of specific terrorism legislation. It is important to remember that it is, and will continue to be the case, that terrorist suspects are dealt with by the most appropriate legal means. This could be the legislation for murder, grievous bodily harm or the use of firearms or explosives which are all outside the scope of the Terrorism Act.
	Section 45(4) of the Terrorism Act 2000 confers the power to detain a person only for the amount of time reasonably required to conduct a search authorised by virtue of section 44 of the Act. Total stops and searches under section 44 for the financial year 2004–05 will be published in December this year.

Probation Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Probation Service officers there were in each probation area in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information is not available for the full period requested. Data collected prior to 1 April 2003 is unreliable, and is not directly comparable with the more accurate figures collected since that time. The figures presented as follows show full time equivalent (FTE) figures at the close of each quarter from 1 April 2003 to 30 June 2005.
	
		
			  2003–04 
			  Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 
			  Starters Leavers Starters Leavers Starters Leavers Starters Leavers 
		
		
			 Senior Probation Officer 4.00 20.00 2.00 20.00 1.50 16.50 1.40 18.50 
			 Senior Practitioner 0.00 3.00 9.00 6.00 1.00 4.00 0.00 7.60 
			 Probation Officer 33.90 78.20 29.10 147.00 34.60 84.10 11.10 95.70 
			 Trainee Probation Officer 2.00 11.00 211.00 15.00 518.00 17.80 135.00 19.00 
			 Probation Services Officer 239.00 111.30 346.10 133.80 229.16 146.01 131.53 113.13 
			 Psychologist 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.50 
			 Other Operational Staff 30.40 56.20 30.70 35.20 49.30 18.30 48.74 23.60 
			 Deputy Chief Officers/Director 1.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 0.00 2.00 
			 AGO and Equivalent 1.00 2.00 4.70 9.00 5.00 5.67 5.00 6.20 
			 Area/District Manager 2.00 4.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 8.00 
			 Section or Function Head 4.00 5.00 19.00 10.00 8.50 10.00 7.00 16.00 
			 Support Staff -Admin 187.80 87.20 176.60 109.70 244.23 113.57 164.99 117.83 
			 Support Staff Other 44.10 13.00 30.40 39.40 38.91 26.30 21.54 16.11 
			 Other Specialist Worker 7.40 6.60 15.00 25.00 10.60 6.00 7.00 13.60 
			 Total 556.60 397.50 874.60 553.10 1143.80 451.25 535.30 459.77 
		
	
	
		
			  2004–05 
			  Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 
			  Starters Leavers Starters Leavers Starters Leavers Starters Leavers 
		
		
			 Senior Probation Officer 4.00 22.60 0.00 2.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 6.00 
			 Senior Practitioner 1.00 2.40 0.00 5.00 1.27 1.00 2.00 0.00 
			 Probation Officer 14.50 84.40 0.00 0.00 1.00 3.00 1.50 3.00 
			 Trainee Probation Officer 2.00 16.00 4.00 11.90 8.00 8.07 8.31 13.38 
			 Probation Services Officer 137.44 138.03 171.83 158.52 165.18 110.98 193.51 103.77 
			 Psychologist 0.00 2.00 38.47 13.90 21.58 8.20 27.00 14.09 
			 Other Operational Staff 13.65 19.45 9.30 13.32 9.00 3.60 10.78 5.89 
			 Deputy Chief Officers/Director 0.00 0.00 1.60 24.90 3.00 15.17 6.05 16.10 
			 AGO and Equivalent 0.00 5.00 0.00 3.00 1.00 5.00 0.00 2.50 
			 Area/District Manager 2.00 1.50 4.20 106.96 25.66 93.68 23.64 84.30 
			 Section or Function Head 5.50 9.58 38.00 36.00 430.00 24.00 96.00 9.00 
			 Support Staff -Admin 104.61 142.66 208.18 159.83 255.53 132.86 296.81 106.79 
			 Support Staff Other 27.05 21.98 2.00 2.00 0.00 3.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Other Specialist Worker 10.68 8.00 21.25 20.80 21.44 17.03 36.15 19.10 
			 Total 322.43 473.60 498.83 558.13 942.66 426.58 702.75 383.92 
		
	
	
		
			  2005–06 
			  Quarter 1 
			  Starters Leavers 
		
		
			 Senior Probation Officer 2.00 1.27 
			 Senior Practitioner 0.50 4.00 
			 Probation Officer 1.00 0.00 
			 Trainee Probation Officer 9.00 7.30 
			 Probation Services Officer 177.21 109.30 
			 Psychologist 18.10 15.32 
			 Other Operational Staff 13.50 11.30 
			 Deputy Chief Officers/Director 5.90 15.00 
			 AGO and Equivalent 2.00 10.20 
			 Area/District Manager 17.90 99.88 
			 Section or Function Head 1.00 13.00 
			 Support Staff -Admin 236.89 124.70 
			 Support Staff Other 0.00 0.60 
			 Other Specialist Worker 22.53 24.41 
			 Total 507.53 436.28

Rape

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of contested prosecutions for rape brought by Gwent Crown Prosecution Service resulted in a conviction in the last 12 years.

Paul Goggins: Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice reform on the number of defendants pleading not guilty of rape and the number and percentage of these found guilty of rape at the Crown court in Gwent police force area, is provided in the following table. Figures are presented for the years 1996–2004. Information on plea is not available for years before 1996. Data for 2005 will be available in the autumn of 2006.
	
		Number of defendants pleading not guilty of rape and the number and percentage of these found guilty of rape at the Crown court, Gwent police force area, 1996–2004(56)
		
			  Not guilty pleas Found guilty Conviction rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 1996 17 6 35 
			 1997 15 8 53 
			 1998 15 1 7 
			 1999 19 7 37 
			 2000 23 6 26 
			 2001 22 8 36 
			 2002 18 8 44 
			 2003 30 11 37 
			 2004 23 5 22 
		
	
	(56) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	Note:
	Rape includes rape of a female and male.

Rebranding

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on rebranding in his Department and related agencies since 2003–04.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office has a central identity which presents a unified and coherent appearance to the public and to its employees. Agencies of the Home Office also need to present themselves consistently. The following table outlines money spent on branding work at the Home Office and related agencies since 2003–04:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Department/service Details of branding Amount spent on branding work 
		
		
			 Home Office Modification and update to branding guidelines 4,680 
			 National Offender Management Service Identity creation, production of artwork and branding guidelines 45,996 
			 Prison Service Modification of logo and production of branding guidelines 10,480 
			 Probation Service Modification of logo and production of branding guidelines 10,230 
			 Total  71,386

Rural Crime

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking (a) to tackle rural crime and (b) to improve detection rates in rural areas.

Hazel Blears: Effective and responsive policing at neighbourhood level as well as robust partnership working are both essential parts of our strategy to tackle crime and to sustain the confidence and trust of the public in all parts of the country.
	We introduced the Rural Policing Fund in 2000–01 specifically to enhance the visibility and accessibility of policing in rural areas. 31 police authorities with the most widespread populations benefit from this additional funding. The annual allocation is £30 million. We are considering rolling-up a number of specific grants, including the Rural Policing Fund, into a single pot for each police authority to give authorities more control over how they may be used. We do not intend to abolish or reduce rural grant allocations. Each authority will receive the current levels of funding but would be expected to honour commitments.
	A number of police forces have introduced community support officers (CSOs) in rural areas since their introduction in 2002. The Home Office is also involved in a "Blue Light" pilot which aims to create a community focused, multi-functional role for these officers in some rural villages.
	We have made a commitment that by 2008, every area in England and Wales will benefit from dedicated neighbourhood policing teams which will be led by police officers and involve special constables, community support officers, volunteers and neighbourhood wardens among others.
	The Government acknowledge the need to improve sanction detection rates across all police forces. For that reason, a major drive has been underway since last summer with the aim of achieving a significant increase in sanction detection rates. This includes a range of operational improvements intended to build the investigative capability of the police service, together with some targeted support for forces with performance concerns.

Secure Training Centres

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been subject to physical restraint in each of the secure training centres in each of the last four years; and in how many incidents each child was involved.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information held centrally on physical restraint in secure training centres does not include the details requested.

Secure Training Centres

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the ethnic origin was of each child subject to physical control in each of the secure training centres in the last 12 months.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information held centrally on physical restraint in secure training centres does not include the details requested.

Adult Education

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2005, Official Report, column 576W, on adult education, what assessment she has made of the affordability of courses for adults wishing to study for a non-basic skills qualification at a lower level than level 2 in 2006–07; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what research she has conducted into the (a) ability and (b) willingness of (i) employers and (ii) individuals to pay an increased proportion of the cost of adult education courses.

Phil Hope: On 21 October, we made an announcement, setting out the Government's strategic direction for the learning and skills sector for the coming period. Our main purpose for doing so was to ensure the 2006/07 funding allocations process began with a clear and concise message on the principles that will underpin funding over the next two years. Our funding priorities do not affect the existing arrangements whereby my Department funds free tuition for learners who are eligible, however, a rebalancing of responsibilities between Government, employers and learners is central to delivering our skills strategy. My Department will continue to waive fees for all young people; those taking literacy and numeracy; and learners receiving income-based benefits, the pension (guarantee) credit and those on higher levels of the working tax credit.
	My Department recently commissioned a public poll asking people about their attitudes towards fees in the learning and skills sector. We published a report of the findings on the Department's website on the 11 November. Other research includes a study of learners (Study of Learners in Further Education (2003)) to ascertain the financial circumstances of learners in FE; and a Prior Qualifications of Adult Learners survey which includes questions about learner attitudes to contributing to the costs of their learning. We have also commissioned two surveys (Fees in Colleges—A Review Of The Use of Discretionary Fee Remission In Further Education (2003); and FE Colleges Fee Charging Policy and Practice (1999)) about fee policies and practices from the college's perspective. DfES published research findings are available on the Department's website at dfes.gov.uk/research/
	The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is currently researching the impact of the new fee policies in the further education sector. LSC published research findings are available on their website at lsc.gov.uk
	There has been no specific research into employer attitudes to payment of fees for adult education courses.

Bullying

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of different approaches to tackling bullying in schools; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the no blame approach to tackling school bullying; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Our guidance to schools on tackling bullying "Don't Suffer in Silence" has been externally evaluated by researchers at Goldsmith's college, University of London. The results, though based on a fairly low response rate from schools, show that the schools found that the pack met their expectations and helped in drawing up their anti-bullying policies.
	This evaluation included research into the perceived success of the anti-bullying strategies and interventions recommended in the guidance. Schools generally reported a high level of satisfaction with the interventions they had used. I have placed a copy of the research brief for this project in the Library.
	The key feature of the 'No Blame' approach, is that it adopts an explicit stance of discouraging punishment as a response to bullying. The Department does not support this stance and neither does the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Our guidance is clear that support and mediation strategies to change behaviour can, and should, be used in tandem with sanctions where appropriate. We are reviewing the guidance to make this even more explicit.
	As we do not promote the 'No Blame' approach for use in schools, we have not undertaken any assessment of its effectiveness.

Departmental Priorities

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what priorities the Department has set for 2005–06; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: My priorities for this year are:
	Improving school education by tailoring the offer to the needs of each pupil, allowing schools greater freedom to specialise in what they do best and increasing choice for all parents and pupils so that they have access to the best schools, as set out in the Schools White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Schools For All";
	Implementing the 14 to19 reforms so that young people can choose a vocational training route alongside more traditional academic education;
	Implementing the Skills Strategy to ensure that employers, employees and low skilled individuals have access to the training they need alongside reform of the FE sector to ensure it is placed to deliver these changes;
	Implementing the new HE student support arrangements and ensuring that young people fully understand them so that participation in HE increases, particularly among those from disadvantaged backgrounds;
	Introducing the Childcare Bill to provide a legislative framework for our 10-year Childcare Strategy; and
	Continuing to make progress towards our challenging PSA targets.
	These will all be achieved within the context of a Department which is smaller and more strategic, with the skills to raise standards for children and learners across the board.
	The Department's five-year strategy for children and learners (Command ref: 6272] sets out our longer term priorities.

Free School Meals

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many recipients of free school meals there are in each school in the Oxford, East constituency.

Jacqui Smith: Information on free school meals in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in the Oxford, East constituency is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools(72): School meal arrangements(73), Oxford, East parliamentary constituency,January 2005
		
			 URN LEA Estab School name Number on roll Number of pupils taking free school meals(74) Percentage of pupils taking free school meals(74) Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 
		
		
			 122967 931 1005 Bartlemas Nursery School 75 11 14.7 11 14.7 
			 122968 931 1006 Headington Nursery School 71 3 4.2 4 5.6 
			 122969 931 1010 Grandpont Nursery School 69 (75)— (75)— (75)— (75)— 
			 122970 931 1011 Slade Nursery School 55 7 12.7 n/a n/a 
			 123021 931 2352 St. Nicholas Primary School 279 25 9.0 36 12.9 
			 123027 931 2401 Sandhills Community Primary School 190 8 4.2 15 7.9 
			 123044 931 2521 Bayards Hill Primary School 351 78 22.2 161 45.9 
			 123046 931 2525 East Oxford Primary School 291 86 29.6 110 37.8 
			 123047 931 2527 The Windmill Primary School 386 24 6.2 34 8.8 
			 123048 931 2529 New Marston Primary School 235 20 8.5 59 25.1 
			 123049 931 2531 Rose Hill Primary School 329 69 21.0 130 39.5 
			 123052 931 2539 Orchard Meadow Primary School 328 100 30.5 157 47.9 
			 123053 931 2543 Larkrise Primary School 293 42 14.3 66 22.5 
			 123074 931 2589 Wood Farm Primary School 235 32 13.6 83 35.3 
			 123078 931 2593 Pegasus School 473 n/a n/a 156 33.0 
			 123088 931 2606 Windale Community Primary School 317 66 20.8 120 37.9 
			 132752 931 2612 The John Henry Newman CE (A) Primary School 356 49 13.8 81 22.8 
			 123139 931 3210 Church Cowley St. James Church of England Primary School 467 36 7.7 71 15.2 
			 123140 931 3211 St. Andrew's Church of England Primary School 297 38 12.8 54 18.2 
			 123142 931 3213 New Hinksey Church of England Primary School 91 20 22.0 22 24.2 
			 123143 931 3216 St. Michael's Church of England Primary School 205 14 6.8 43 21.0 
			 123171 931 3252 St Christopher's Church of England School, Cowley 323 76 23.5 88 27.2 
			 123172 931 3253 St. Francis Church of England Primary School 295 43 14.6 70 23.7 
			 123212 931 3833 St. Ebbe's Church of England Aided First School 270 11 4.1 34 12.6 
			 123213 931 3834 SS Mary and John Church of England Primary School 329 15 4.6 35 10.6 
			 123215 931 3836 Our Lady's Catholic Primary School 308 13 4.2 32 10.4 
			 123216 931 3838 St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Oxford 306 9 2.9 9 2.9 
			 123217 931 3839 St. John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Littlemore 207 34 16.4 48 23.2 
			 123242 931 4074 Peers School 1,049 203 19.4 243 23.2 
			 123252 931 4117 Oxford Community School 1,112 155 13.9 320 28.8 
			 123253 931 4120 Cheney School 1,429 129 9.0 226 15.8 
			 133644 931 4145 St. Gregory the Great VA Catholic Secondary School 950 105 11.1 185 19.5 
		
	
	(72) Includes middles schools as deemed.
	(73) Includes dually registered and boarding pupils.
	(74) Based upon school level numbers of pupils who had a free school meal on 20 January 2005.
	(75) Less than 3 or a rate based on less than 3.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census.

Further Education

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are being taken to ensure that students in the bottom two socio-economic groups are encouraged into further education.

Bill Rammell: The Government's 14–19 Education and Skills White Paper sets out the prime objective of our 14–19 strategy , to ensure all young people have opportunities to stay on and achieve their full potential in learning post-16. We are doing this through widening choice in the curriculum, improving the quality of the learning experience, and providing young people with the guidance and financial support they need. Particularly relevant measures for the bottom two socio-economic groups are:
	the pre and post 16 Entry to Employment programmes—(work based learning designed to help disadvantaged or disaffected young people overcome often serious barriers to learning).
	the Connexions Service (a front line support service for all young people offering advice on careers and lifestyle issues)
	a range of financial support and incentives (especially the income-tested educational maintenance allowance, a weekly payment of up to £30 designed to encourage young people to stay in learning).

Gifted and Talented Youth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005 to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb), Official Report, column 118W, on gifted and talented youth, how many members of the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth there are in each school in Staffordshire.

Jacqui Smith: There are 863 members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) in Staffordshire schools. The following table includes all Staffordshire local education authority schools plus those independent schools with NAGTY members.
	
		Staffordshire
		
			 School NAGTY members 
		
		
			 Abbot Beyne School 37 
			 Alleyne's High School A Technology School 69 
			 Belgrave High School 0 
			 Biddulph High School 1 
			 Blake Valley Technology College 38 
			 Blessed William Howard Catholic School 0 
			 Blythe Bridge High School 17 
			 Cannock Chase High School 28 
			 Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School 1 
			 Chase Terrace Technology College 0 
			 Chasetown High School 3 
			 Chasetown Specialist Sports College 0 
			 Cheadle High School 0 
			 Cheslyn Hay Sport and Community College 0 
			 Chesterton Community High School 0 
			 Clayton Hall Business and Language College 48 
			 Clough Hall Technology School 17 
			 Codsall Community High School 22 
			 Codsall Middle School 10 
			 De Ferrers Specialist Technology College 44 
			 Denstone College 34 
			 Edenhurst Preparatory School 1 
			 Edgecliff High School 0 
			 Endon High School 0 
			 Fair Oak Business and Enterprise College 6 
			 Great Wyrley High School 18 
			 Hagley Park Sports College 0 
			 John Taylor High School 70 
			 King Edward VI High School 0 
			 King Edward VI School 0 
			 Kingsmead Technology College 1 
			 Leek High School 0 
			 Madeley High School 15 
			 Maryhill High School 0 
			 Moorside High School 8 
			 Nether Stowe High School 25 
			 Newcastle Community High School 1 
			 Norton Canes High School 0 
			 Ounsdale High School 0 
			 Paget High School 0 
			 Painsley Catholic High School 96 
			 Paulet High School 1 
			 Penkridge Middle School 10 
			 Queen Elizabeth's Mercian School 1 
			 Rawlett School 1 
			 Rising Brook High School 0 
			 Robert Sutton Catholic School 6 
			 Sir Graham Balfour High School 0 
			 Sir Thomas Boughey High School 0 
			 St. Dominic's Priory School 34 
			 St. John Fisher Catholic High School 10 
			 Stafford Grammar School 27 
			 The Friary School 1 
			 The Moorlands Sixth Form Centre 1 
			 Thomas Alleyne's High School 28 
			 Tore High School 0 
			 Walton High School 81 
			 Weston Road High School 17 
			 Westwood High School 0 
			 Wilnecote High School 1 
			 Windsor Park Church of England Middle School 3 
			 Wolgarston High School 0 
			 Wolstanton High School 31 
			 Woodhouse High School 0 
			 Total 863

National Skills Academies

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) of 17 November 2005, Official Report, column 1456W, on national skills academies, if she will set out the individuals, companies and other bodies who will be preparing the business plans for the first four sectors of the National Skills Academy programme.

Phil Hope: Each of the four proposals to develop National Skills Academies now moving into detailed business planning are led by the appropriate sector skills council. The sector skills councils are constructionskills, the financial services sector skills council, improve (covering the food and drink manufacturing sector) and SEMTA which is leading the development of the proposal for a Manufacturing National Skills Academy.
	In the four sectors a number of well-known companies have been involved in developing the proposals for National Skills Academies. This includes Bovis Lend Lease and Kier Homes (construction), Nationwide Building Society and Norwich Union (financial services) Northern Foods plc and Youngs Bluecrest Seafood Ltd (food and drink) Filtronics Components Ltd and Caterpillar (manufacturing). We expect that each of the sector skills councils will continue to work with these employers and to engage others across the sector as they develop their detailed business plans with the Learning and Skills Council. I will ask Mark Haysom, chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council to write to you with full details of the employers involved in the first National Skills Academies, once business plans have been agreed.

National Vocational Qualifications

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance the Government are giving adults to pursue national vocational qualifications; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: holding answer 23 November 2005
	The second skills White Paper, "Skills: Getting on in business, getting on in work" published in March 2005, reaffirmed our commitment that all individuals—whether employed or not can get the skills and qualifications they need for sustained and rewarding work, and for personal growth in order for them to maximise their contribution to their communities and society.
	The Learning and Skills Council heavily subsidises adults undertaking national vocational qualifications—currently at least 72.5 per cent. of the course fees are paid from public funds. In addition it provides free tuition to those adults who have not yet achieved a first full Level 2 qualification, equivalent to five good GCSEs or an NVQ2. Today, there are around 10 million adults in England who lack a full Level 2 qualification and it is vital for the nation's social and economic future that they receive the help and support they need to achieve a platform of skills for employability. The Government's target is to reduce the number of people in the workforce lacking a full Level 2 or equivalent qualification by 40 per cent. (3.6 million) by 2010.
	There are a number of other assistance channels for adult learners which depending upon individual circumstances could include an adult learning grant which pays up to £30 a week for those on low incomes studying full-time (defined as at least 12 hours per week) for a first full Level 2 and for a first Level 3 for those between 19–30, access to an integrated information and advice service through learndirect and local nextstep services, additional help from Learner Support Funds for those who need extra help with child care, transport costs and other costs of learning, and skills coaching from April 2005 (in eight Jobcentre Plus areas) offering intensive personal guidance service for adults on inactive and active benefits to help them move into sustainable employment

Schools

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance is given to local authorities when tendering for school transport on ensuring confidentiality of the identity of young people.

Maria Eagle: Confidentiality of information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. Further advice is contained in the Disability Rights Commission code of practice for schools. This recognises that information is often needed in order for authorities to make reasonable adjustments to cater for the transport requirements of a child with special needs. It explains that schools should seek the necessary consents before passing such information on. It is also clear that, should a request for confidentiality under the Disability Discrimination Act be made, information may not, from that point, be passed on for the purposes of making reasonable adjustments.

Teachers

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps the Department takes to manage the number of teacher trainees in different subjects to ensure adequacy of supply;
	(2)  what assessment the Department has made of the ratio of supply and demand for teachers of modern languages.

Jacqui Smith: The number of initial teacher training places, including those for modern foreign languages, made available each year are agreed between the Department and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). Their decision is informed by the teacher supply models, which take into account recent and expected flows in and out of teaching, the age structure of the teaching profession, the latest pupil projections and expected changes in demand arising from new policy initiatives with an analysis by age, phase and (for secondary schools) subject. These also take account of expected wastage during training. Consideration is also given to:
	the latest evidence on vacancy rate by subject
	the evidence of the secondary schools curriculum and staffing survey e.g. on levels of out-of-subject teaching
	evidence from Ofsted on particular subjects, where available
	the desirability for a degree of stability in the training provider market.
	Since 2000 we have provided £6,000 bursaries to all PGCE trainee teachers. We have also provided those teaching priority subjects, which includes modern foreign languages with a £4,000 Golden Hello once they have successfully completed their induction. From September 2005 trainee science and maths teachers have received an enhanced bursary of £7,000 bursary and a £5,000 Golden Hello. The financial package remained the same for other subjects. For PGCE trainee teachers of secondary priority subjects the bursary will increase again from September 2006 to £9,000. Those teachers who received the increased bursary will also be provided with a Golden Hello, of £5,000 for those teaching maths and science and £2,500 for other priority subjects, once they have successfully completed their induction.

Teachers

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research she has evaluated on what motivates (a) teachers and (b) administrators to enter the education sector at (i) primary, (ii) secondary, (iii) further education and (iv) university level.

Jacqui Smith: In 2003, the Department, in collaboration with the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), commissioned a six year study of teachers' experiences of initial teacher training and early professional development in England entitled "Becoming a Teacher". This has already explored what motivates people to enter the teaching profession.
	This research has revealed that the three most influential sets of reasons which attracted the survey respondents to undertake an initial teacher training programme were related to: altruistic motives e.g. helping young people to learn; the perceived benefits of teaching and training e.g. long holidays; and being a teacher in today's society e.g. the challenging nature of the job.
	The research has further revealed some differences across teaching phases, including: more primary trainees than secondary trainees were attracted by working with children and young people, and helping young people to learn; while at the same time, a higher proportion of secondary trainees than primary were attracted by staying involved with a subject specialism and opportunities for career development.
	We have also looked at what motivates teachers in further education as part of a recent study entitled "Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector". Respondents cited a range of factors, including wanting to help people to develop and wanting to work with a wider range of people/learners. The two major personal reasons mentioned by respondents were for their own personal development and wanting to change their career path.
	In relation to university level, we have also funded a study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research called the 'Recruitment and Retention of Academic Staff in Higher Education'. This looked at what motivates existing staff, and what the motivating factors are attracting staff into higher education. The motivating factors included: teaching; ability to undertake personal research; flexibility of hours; autonomy; and stability of employment.
	We do not have any specific research results on what motivates administrators in schools, the learning and skills sector, or at university level.

Young Apprenticeship Scheme

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Young Apprenticeship Scheme (a) cost in 2004–05 and (b) is expected to cost in (i) 2005–06 and (ii) 2007–08; how many people dropped out of the scheme in 2004–05; whether schools will be able to use grades from the scheme in their GCSE league tables; how scheme grades are calibrated; and how they relate to the calibration for GCSE.

Phil Hope: There are around 1,000 pupils on cohort 1 of the programme, which began in September 2004, and around 2,000 on cohort 2, which began in September 2005.
	Funding for the delivery of the Young Apprenticeship (YA) Programme is routed to local partnerships via the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on an individual pupil basis. A total of up to 6,000 per pupil is available for the two years of the programme, 3,500 in the first and 2,500 in the second year.
	In addition, the Department are providing funding to the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and sector bodies involved in the programme, to provide strategic input to policy development on behalf of their sectors and develop sector support for partnerships and teachers.
	In 2004–05 the Young Apprenticeship Programme cost £3,948,855.63, of which £3,153,000 was allocated through the Learning and Skills Council to cover pupil costs and LSC support for partnerships, the remainder being allocated by the Department for central and sector specific support.
	In 2005–06 the programme is expected to cost in the region of £10,700,000. Costs in 2007–08 (and in 2006–07) will depend on the number of pupils on the programme, yet to be confirmed.
	Confirmed figures for the number of pupils who dropped out of the scheme in 2004–05 will not be known until the analysis of baseline data has been completed. This is currently scheduled for the end of 2005.
	No new qualifications have been developed for the YA programme. Pupils are studying existing qualifications, which are approved as appropriate for use pre-16, either GCSEs in vocational subjects, NVQs or vocationally-related qualifications. SSCs and sector bodies have provided advice on which qualifications are most appropriate to accredit achievement in particular sectors and have clear progression routes post-16. Pupils on the programme are expected to achieve Level 2 outcomes (equivalent to A* to C at GCSE). The qualifications all have an established equivalence to GCSEs in the Secondary Achievement and Attainment Tables. Qualification outcomes for pupils on the programme will be included in the table for their school.